Method of making molded wheels



Feb. 2, 1932. G. E.' sMm-l 'r AL I 1,843,904

VMETHOD OF MAKING MOLDED WHEELS original Filed Jam-21, 192g, slsheets-shee't' 1 f mama@ Feb; 2, 1932. G. E. sMm-l ET AL 1,843,904

METHoDyoF MAKING MOLDED WHEELS original Filed Jan.v 21, 192e 5 shets-sheet "2 Hen/y j Maga/2,

www0-Ms y n Feb. 2, 1932. G. E. SMITHDETAL 1,843,904

u METHOD 0F MAKING MOLDED WHEELS' I original Filed .I an. 21, 192e s sheets-'sheet s vwemtofcs W Wwf..

Patented Feb. 2, 1932 vUnirseJAS'IATES OF NEW YORK GRANT n. sMrTH AND HENRY s. MORGAN, onrouenxnnrsrn, NEW YORK,- AssIeNons p TOrOUvArLsMITH CORPORATION, OF POUGHKnErsIE, NEW YORK, A -oonronATroNy METHOD or MAKINGV MOLDED WHEELS.

Application led January 21, 1926, Serial'No. 82,663. Renewed March 2, 1928.

Thepresent invention relates to molded wheels of wood or other suitable moldable material and to the manufacture thereof, the principal objectl being to pro-vide a strong, durable wheel madevof moldable material and to provide an economical and expeditious method of manufacturing the same. Inas- `much as the invention has been developed in 'connection with the manufacture of steering wheels for automobiles suchan embodiment of the invention has been selected for illustration and descriptionl herein.

The vmanufact'ure'lof 'wooden steering l'wheels `by the methods more commonly employed involvesI considerable expense and requires skilled labor inthe forming vofthe Wheel and in the finishing thereof to afford the desired surface.`

The vpresent invention providesa method of manufacture whereby al wheelr may be made of inexpensive materials including fibrous materials such as paper, chipboard and the like with or without parts out out of wood, Vthe material being so treated during Vthe process ofv manufacture that the'desired strength is obtained without making anypart of the wheel of undue size. i Themethod can be Operated economically andexpeditiously 30hy relatively unskilled labor, and relatively inexpensive raw materials can' be used effectively. Wheels made yin accordance with the invention will not appreci ably warp or shrink attractive appearance.

rlhe nature and objects Vof the invention will and are hard, durable, weatherproof and of be better understood from a description of an illustrative embodiment thereof for the pur,-

pose of which description reference islnade part hereof wherein to the accompanying drawings forming la Figure l is a central sectional view showing thev blank parts-from which the steering wheel is to'be made, assembled in a mold and' ready to be compressed and molded to form the wheel; y

Figure 2 is a similar -view showing the wheel in molded conditionin the vmold Figure 3 is a detailperspective view showin g the shape and arrangement of the central ofthe spoke blank;

hub members including themetal reenforcingl i' Figure 6 is| a cross-sectional view takenI on the line 6 6 of Figure 5 showing the shape of a. finished spoke; Y

Figure 7 is a central cross-sectional view of a finished wheel showing a slightly different construction in vwhich the annular reenforc- Figure 8 is 'a' central sectional viewof blank members assembled readyto be coming metal members areofsuch shape as not VVto'be bent lduring the molding operation;1 "65 pressed to form a wheel having a relatively` thin hub structure adapted to be connected to a' steering post by metalclamping members;

"F1gure'9 is a similar view showing the iinished wheel; 'y

l Figurel() is a sectional view taken on theV line l0-10 ofFigure 8 showing the shape Figure'llt is a planjviewiof the wheel shown in Figure 9'; Figure l2 is ay detailperspective' view.V showing the hub blank sections of FigureS; Figure 13 is a sectional view showing a spoke blankV and rim blank made of laminae kof chipboard or the like;

The steering wheel shown in Figure 2 comprises a rim 5, spokes 6 and a hub 7 molded about and securingtogether the inner ends ofi by suitable metal rings 8, 9 molded into and effect as a metal'bushing. -As best shownlin vli`igure-3 vthe alternate rings 8 areof largerfV diameter than the rings y9 and are also'formed lthe spokes. The-hub is preferably reenforced forming a part of the hub and Vserving-in Aer ably.

,complete blank.

desired metal reenforcement, heating and molding the whole under sufficient pressurel to compress the material and forni the finished wheel. Such parts of the blank as are made of wood may be of any suitable wood, such as maple, birch', ash or gum.

The preliminary treatment of the blank parts to form the same and to prepare them for the .molding operation may vary consid- 'There are Vsome .advantages in making the rim and spokes'of wood and this material is indicated in the structure shown in Figure 2. The rim sections maybe formed from straight pieces of wood by steaming and bending, the separate pieces being assembled to form a complete rim. The spokes may be separate pieces the outer ends of which are inserted in suitable recesses in the rim and the inner ends of which are received within the hub struct-ure. rlhe hub structure, :as best indicated in Figure 1 may be made up of fibrous material in which are introduced metal reenforcing rings 8, 9. rThe lowermostsection 10 vof the 'hub of this particular wheel is preferably formed as a separate member molded of suitable fibrous ma teria'l such asinascerated chipboard for the reason that by vso prepa-ring a separate piece it may be made to lit the shape 'of the mold more satisfactorily. The remaining parts may be arranged in any suitable way.

As shown the central portion oftheV hub vstructure is built up o-f a number of rings 11 of cardboardbetween certain of which .the metalrings 8, 9 are interposed. Around Athe upper portion of the central hubstruc ture are placed a number of largerrings 12 of chipboard to form the upper and outer `part of the hub( The several parts of the blank are suitably treated with a sui-table condensation product 'which acts as an adhesive bind-er in the finished wheel. For example, any suitable phenolic. condensation product may be used.

-Such parts of the blank as are formed' of a relatively thickA mass of material such as the section 1() of the hub structure have the binder incorporated therein and distributed throughout the body thereof. Such parts as are made of chipboard sheets may be either saturated with or coated on both sides with the binder or adhesive. rlhe parts are prefn erably dried after coating and before moldg ing and the' several la-minae vmay be either loosely arranged vor, if preferred for convenience in handling, they may be cemented together by the binder to form unitary strucN tures before being assembled to form the The wood sections maybe more or less impregnated with the binder, which also serves to alford a surface 4finish *for the completed article or they may simply` be superficially lcoated therewith and dried. A s indicated in 4Figure 1 the several elements of the hub structure are assembled upon a central pin 15 which fits into the mold and serves as a part thereof during the molding operation to determine the shape and size of the central hub opening. The pin 15 may be formed with a projecting key in order to form a keyway in the hub structure, the hub parts Abeing correspondingly recessed to lit thereover or if preferred the pin maybe round and the keyway afterward cut in the hub of the finished wheel.

The complete assembled blank is compressed and molded in the mold 18 between suitably heated upper and lower heads 20, 21 to form the finished wheel. The compressing and molding operation will cause the material of the hub structure to flow around and closely embrace the inner ends of the spokes and securely hold the same. Ordinarily it is 4unnecessary to provide separateliller members between the spokes circumferentially around the central hub members but this may be done if desired. During the molding operation the outer edges of some of the reenforcing rings especially the larger rings 8 will be bent towards the central plane of the hub as indicated in Figure 2. This provides an interlocking of the metal reenforcement or bushing parts with the fibrous material o1' the hubstructure in a manner which for some purposes is particularly desirable.

The hub structure indicated in Figure 7 may be obtained by using rings 22 allof which are of substantially -thesame size and if desired fewer rings may be used andthey may 'be placed further apart. The fibrous material isv .also arranged with a view to avoiding any tendency to bend the rings in this structure. The structure is otherwise substantially .the sam-e as that shown in F igure 2.

The wheel shown in Figures 8 to 11 inclusive is in general the same construction as that shown in Figure 2 but is designed to be secured to the steering post by means-of a clamping arrangement having upper and lower plates to which the wheel is secured by bolts passing vertically through the hub thereof. No keyway is required in the hub of this wheel and the hub may be made relatively thin and without metal reenforcement. The methodof assembling is substantially the same as that previously described with reference to the wheel shown in Figure 2. The blank may comprise rim and spoke sections 275, 26 with a lower hub section 27 molded of fibrous material and a binder and .an upper annular hub section 28 of similar material.

The hub section 27 is shown as formed with projections 30 in the recess 31 between which, the spoke sections 26 are received.

' ln Figure 13 the spoke and rim blank sections are shown as built up of laminated material. In the construction of the spoke sections-sheetsof. chipboard suitably coated with the finished wheel the assembled blank isl placed in the preferably previously heated mold and the mold is placed in a press between the heated pressure heads 20, 21. After the blank has been arranged in the mold additional adhesive,preferably in the lform of dry powder, may be added at the joints and more particularly around the hub to fill all crevices and to insure a stronger and better joint. The pressure heads of the press are then brought against the mold parts to press the same against the blank'with a light pressure. The blank is allowed to absorb heat from the mold and the mold .to absorb more heat from the pressure heads for a pre,- determined time, for example live minutes, until the blank becomes heated, after which ythe eXtreme pressure is applied to closethe mold and compress the blank to form the iinished wheel. The heat and pressure is maintained for a suiicient time to insure curing of j blank. During the compressing and molding operation the wood and fibrous material will flow to conform to the shape of the mold, that is to say, the fibres of the wood will move rel-af tively and adjust themselves to the configuration of the mold in which the blank is compressed.

The heat ofthe mold first softensl andv makes plastic the adhesive and then during the compressing operation the adhesive is forced into the pores of the wood along the surface thereof Vand is causedtov co-act with and bind together the fibres of the wood and other fibrous material used and simultaneous` ly the adhesive at the surface of the blank is cured to form a hard, wear-resisting surface. The adhesive also acts as a lubricant between the mold and the blank.

The pressure employed may range for eX- ample from 500 to 5000 pounds per square inch of the blank to be compressed, depending upon the amount of compression desired,

the material compressed, the size of therde eration is performed may vary considerably.l

Successful results have been obtained by compressing at temperatures which approach- 30001?. It is convenient to heat the pres- 85 pounds per square inch circulating in suitable passages 30 therein. The'mold may be cooled when the pressing operation is finished by circulating waterv in these same passages.

The preliminary heating of the molds prior.,

to inserting the blankmay be accomplished in any suitable way, we find it convenient to provide steam tables heatedby steam under a pressureV of 85 pounds per square inch on which the molds are heated before the blank is inserted. If preferred the mold may be provided with passages therein to remove the vheating steam and cooling water directly.

vThe invention provides an exceptionally strong structure and a method whereby the same may be manufactured expeditiously and economically by relatively unskilled operatives. The operation of compressing the woodl or other moldable material and curing the condensation product or other equivalent binder produces a wheel which will not appreciably warpV or shrink. The wood, if wood is usedlfor a part of the blank is preferably compressed to approximately one-half ofritsl original volume and the fibrous material maybe advantageously compressed to an even greater extent especially if the material used is not dense -in its original condition.

The foregoing description is illustrative merely and is not intended as defining the limits of the invention.

We claim: v l Y 1. The method of making a molded spoked wheel spider including spoke and hub portions, which comprises, assembling moldable and the inner endsof the spoke blanks to secure thekspokeblanks together and form a` hub.

' 2. The method of making a. molded Spoked wheel of material which in the final product is considerably reduced from its initial volume, which comprises, pre-molding portions of the wheel wherein the bulk of the original material used renders it desirable, to reduce the volume of the material and make the pore y tions conform more closely yto the shape of the final mold, and thereafterk further molding the material under heat and pressure to form the final wheel.

3. The method of making a molded spoked wheelincluding a hub and spokes which comprises, assembling an inner stack ofmoldable material and outer concentric rings about the inner ends of the spokes and moldingY the assembly under pressure to form an integral (hub and spoke structure. l

In testimony whereof, we have signedV our v names to this specification this 15th day of January, 1926. l l

' Y GRANT E. SMITH.y

sure heads by steam under a pressure of about i HENRY s. MORGAN., 

